Introduction
Canada is the second-largest sovereign state in the world in terms of land area, behind only Russia. However, the population size overall is significantly smaller, having only surpassed the U.S. State of California fairly recently (circa 2023), with the Provinces of Ontario and Québec holding the vast majority of the national population.
Interestingly, British Columbia and Alberta are the next two largest provinces by population, the latter of which may seem surprising at first glance until realizing the geographic nature of the Canadian Shield, which largely impacts the regions further east in the nation. Alaska, within the United States, is at latitudes often comparable to significantly more remote rural settlements further east in both the Provinces to the south and the Territories to the north within Canada—even into Québec and northern Labrador.
Provinces
Canada contains ten (10) provinces, from west to east: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador. Each province contains a relative level of autonomy often somewhat greater than is received by individual states within the United States, though less so than Australian states and territories. Unlike the United States or Australia, however, the national capital city is integrated within the Province of Ontario and does not have a dedicated federal territory, though the capital city does not overlap the capital city of the province.
While Ottawa is the seat of government for Canada’s Westminster-style Parliament system, the ten provinces also maintain provincial governments, with five (5) provinces using capital cities that are not the largest cities in their respective provinces. From west to east, the provincial capitals are Victoria, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Québec, Fredericton, Charlottetown, Halifax, and St. John’s. The largest cities in each province are Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montréal, Moncton, Charlottetown, Halifax, and St. John’s, respectively.
Historic Sites
The only identified Viking settlement in North America beyond the scope of Greenland is the site of “Vinland,” located in the area now known as L’Anse aux Meadows near the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland, in which Leif Erikson was identified as having founded a short-lived colony in the region. Elsewhere in the nation, however, are a number of otherwise related historic sites that remain preserved, including Kings Landing, New Brunswick; Fort York, Ontario; and a number of other sites of historical significance, particularly in the east. Prior to Confederation, Canada had consisted of the Provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada (Québec), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Prince Edward Island (PEI) did not join Confederation at first, but the modern province would eventually join after just a few more years; Newfoundland and Labrador had only been included since shortly after the end of World War II.
United Empire Loyalists
The modern region that most appropriately defines the etymology of the name “Canada” is perhaps the area along the upper Saint Lawrence River, and in particular the side on the present-day Province of Ontario, within the general vicinity of the Thousand Islands of the State of New York in the United States. This region has also been largely associated with the United Empire Loyalist history of English Canada, though the Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and even portions of Lower Canada have also played roles in the Loyalist migrations. Though the modern regions of Estrie (the Eastern Townships) and Bonaventure are firmly Québécois, a number of Anglophone settlers have largely determined the Anglican communities in the modern province. Anglophones in the region today are concentrated in the area around Lennoxville within the greater region of Sherbrooke, home to Bishop’s University. Further west, in the generally Francophone area of Montréal, are McGill University and Concordia University, both Anglophone institutions associated with the predominantly Francophone city.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Prior to Confederation, much of the modern area of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador had been under British control entirely separate from Canada. A similar dynamic continues to exist in the modern British Overseas Territories of the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla, and Montserrat.
Prairie Provinces
The Prairie Provinces of Canada—Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba—may often be mistaken for the Great Plains of the United States for having vastly related landscapes. However, the Canadian latitudes are often colder than the American latitudes on the Plains, yet Canadian values result in the vast majority of the Prairie residents living within reach of the U.S. border. Saskatchewan in particular has largely been compared to the States of North Dakota and South Dakota in the United States for having similar European ancestries, especially upon the arrival of the Germans from Russia (including parts of modern Ukraine).
British Columbia
Often identified by American travelers as the “gateway to Alaska,” the most dramatic portion of the Alaska Highway is located within this westernmost province of modern Canada. To the north is the Yukon Territory, also containing part of the Alaska Highway, and both BC and the Yukon play large roles in supporting the traffic flow to (and from) the State of Alaska. Today, Vancouver dominates the region, as with Seattle and Portland in the United States, with communities such as Kelowna, Surrey, and Victoria relatively comparable to communities such as Olympia, Bremerton, Salem, Port Angeles, Everett, Mount Vernon, Astoria, Salem, and Eugene on the American side of the international border.
The Territories
Today, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut represent the Territories of Canada, with each individual territory representing a particular aspect of the cultural heritage of the predominantly Arctic region. The capitals are (from west to east) Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Iqaluit; and numerous lakes are easily identifiable within the region, most notably the Great Bear Lake and the Great Slave Lake, as well as the Mackenzie River ultimately flowing into the Arctic Ocean. Relatively similar terrain may also occur within the Province of Manitoba, containing Lake Winnipeg as well as Lake Winnipegosis.
Great Lakes
Though Lake Michigan is entirely within the United States, portions of Lake Huron, namely the Georgian Bay and the North Channel, are entirely within Canada. Lake Nipigon represents another significant lake within the Province of Ontario, with nearly as significant an importance as many of the other provincial and territorial lakes outside the Great Lakes.
novaTopFlex 